The present disclosure employs a construction as described below. Specifically, an aspect of the present disclosure is an information processing program for causing a computer of an information processing apparatus having a radio wave receiving unit to function as: an installation location designating unit for designating an installation location of equipment transmitting radio waves; an equipment specifying unit for specifying the equipment based on a field intensity of radio waves received by the radio wave receiving unit; and an association unit for associating the equipment specified by the equipment specifying unit with the installation location designated by the installation location designating unit.
The “installation location” as used herein is not limited to a fixed position on a map. The “installation location” may be defined by which floor of a building the equipment is installed on, or by which wall or pillar in the building the equipment is installed on. Further, the “installation location” may be defined by which movable body such as a vehicle or an amusement park ride car the equipment is installed on.
According to the present disclosure, the task for registering an installation location of equipment transmitting radio waves can be simplified by specifying equipment based on a field intensity based on received radio waves and associating the specified equipment with the installation location.
The information processing program may cause the computer to further function as an identification information acquisition unit for acquiring identification information of the equipment, and the association unit may associate the equipment with the installation location by linking and registering the identification information of the equipment and information indicating the installation location.
The information indicating the installation location (installation location information) may indicate the installation location in any form. For example, the installation location may be represented by a coordinate system the origin of which indicates a predetermined point in the premise. Also, the installation location may be indicated by the number of a floor or a pillar provided in the premise, indicated by the number of a vehicle, or indicated by the number of an amusement park ride car.
The identification information acquisition unit may acquire identification information of the equipment from a signal included in the radio waves transmitted by the equipment. The acquisition of the identification information of the equipment from a signal included in the radio waves transmitted by the equipment makes it possible to simplify the task of registering the equipment transmitting its own identification information.
In general, the field intensity becomes higher as the distance to the equipment is reduced. Therefore, the equipment specifying unit may specify equipment located in the vicinity of the information processing apparatus based on the field intensity.
For example, the equipment specifying unit may specify equipment from which the radio wave receiving unit receives radio waves with the highest field intensity, as the equipment located in the vicinity of the information processing apparatus. Also, the equipment specifying unit may specify equipment from which the radio wave receiving unit receives radio waves with a field intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold, as the equipment located in the vicinity of the information processing apparatus.
The information processing program may cause the computer to further function as a list output unit for outputting a list indicating field intensities of radio waves transmitted by the respective pieces of the equipment.
The association unit may associate the equipment with the installation location by linking and accumulating, in a database, the identification information of the equipment and the information indicating the installation location.
The information processing program may cause the computer to further function as a map output unit for outputting a map on which an installation location of equipment can be specified, and the installation location designating unit may designate the location designated by being indicated on the map, as the installation location of the equipment.
The use of a map to allow a user to designate an installation location enables the user to register the installation location of the equipment with a simpler and less troublesome task.
The aforementioned equipment is equipment which can be installed on a movable body, and the installation location designating unit may designate a movable body on which the equipment is installed, as the installation location of the equipment, and the association unit may associate the equipment with the installation location by linking and registering identification information of the equipment and information indicating the movable body designated by the installation location designating unit.
The aforementioned equipment may be a beacon transmitter having a function to transmit radio waves, and this beacon transmitter may be an access point used in wireless communication (radio communication). In this case, the association unit may associate the equipment with the installation location by linking and registering a physical layer address used in the beacon transmitter and information indicating the installation location.
The information processing program may cause the computer to further function as a message output unit for outputting a message to prompt bringing the information processing apparatus close to the equipment whose installation location is designated by the installation location designating unit.
The present disclosure also can be embodied as a method to be implemented by an information processing apparatus, an information processing system having one or a plurality of information processing apparatuses, or a computer. The present disclosure also can be embodied as a program to be executed by a computer. Further, the present disclosure may be embodied by recording such a program on a recording medium which is readable by a computer, a device, a machine or the like. The recording medium which is readable by a computer or the like refers herein to a recording medium on which information such as data or programs are accumulated by electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or chemical action in such a manner that the information can be read by a computer or the like.